Happily Ever After
by letthestarsfall
Summary: The first christmas of the rest of their lives  set the Christmas after Ruth and Jay left Holby!  RuthxJay


_Hey everyone! Just a little fluffy one shot as a little Christmas present for all the lovely RJ fans out there! Set at the Christmas after Ruth and Jay left Holby! Merry Christmas everyone! :)_

**Happily Ever After**

"Merry Christmas!"

Ruth's eyes snapped open and she immediately fixed the overly cheery face in front of her with a glare.

"Santa's been!" Jay tried bouncing on the bed like an excited child.

"Good for Santa." Ruth groaned rolling over closing her eyes.

"Come on Ruth if you like this next year our baby is going to grow up to be a mini grinch!" Jay pouted "I bought coffee – decaffeinated of course."

"Why would decaffeinated coffee or fact it is Christmas day make me want to get up?" Ruth turned back to face Jay shaking her head irritably

"Because normal people like Christmas and decaffeinated is all you're getting!" Jay suggested

"Well then I am very much not normal thank you very much." Ruth responded rolling her eyes "And the whole point of coffee is that it is full of caffeine to keep you awake."

"You can have caffeinated coffee in seven months! Think of it as a day closer!" Jay said optimistically "Come on Ruth I promise this will be the best Christmas you've ever had!"

"Well that's hardly going to be hard to achieve!" Ruth rolled her eyes as she sat up stretching slightly

"Trust me!" Jay grinned

"That's one thing I will never do!" Ruth laughed slightly as she ran her hand through her messy hair and then placed it on her slightly rounded stomach.

"If this is not your best Christmas day ever then I will eat my hat!" Jay said confidently

"You're not wearing a hat!" Ruth pointed out a small cheeky smile crossing her face

"You know what I mean!" Jay rolled his eyes "Come on."

He held out his hand and Ruth accepted it letting him drag her from the bed. She followed him from their bedroom down the stairs to their little living room which had been full of boxes when Ruth had gone to bed the night before. They had only moved into the little house the week before. It was their little house, a two up two down by the sea just the dream house that Jay had described on the night that had changed their lives. A fresh start for the couple who had faced an awful lot both together and apart in the three years they had known one another.

"I got up early." Jay beamed as Ruth examined the living room, the boxes that had littered it were now stacked neatly to one side and the whole place looked like an explosion in a Christmas decoration factory, tinsel in a variety of gaudy colours littered literally every surface and a Christmas tree was standing neatly in the corner next to the fireplace.

"Festive." Ruth remarked a little shocked recalling the beautiful decorations at the house she had shared with Edward this time last year, they had been beautiful and festive but also posh and expensive, something about Jay's decorating scheme was just much more warm, homely and welcoming. It brought alive a warm tingly feeling in Ruth's stomach knowing the decorations had been placed with love and enthusiasm.

"Grinch." Jay grinned slightly "Sit down." He ordered her and she obliged watching as she hurried off under the tree and produced an armful of gifts

"We are supposed to be saving money until you have a new job!" Ruth complained instantly

"Oh shut up and open them its Christmas!" Jay replied simply

Ruth shook her head and set about opening the first present.

"It took me ages to arrange this!" Jay grinned as Ruth pulled out t-shirt with the words 'Yummy Mummy' emblazoned across it

"If everything is this tacky then you may live to regret wasting your time and money!" Ruth wrinkled her nose at the t-shirt and Jay laughed

"Shut up you, you know you love being spoilt really!" Jay beamed passing her another present which she set about opening "See they aren't all totally tacky!" he added as she pulled the paper off a framed photo Jay had taken of the pair of them on the nearby beach a few days earlier.

"Fair enough" Ruth smiled slightly placing the photo down carefully.

"Open this one!" Jay beamed passing her another parcel

Ruth had never really thought much of Christmas. It hadn't been a time of year that she had associated with happiness, in fact after last year she had approached this Christmas with trepidation wary of the potential of further heartbreak but the warm feeling in her stomach right now made her rethink her negative attitude. How could a Christmas with Jay be anything other than happy? This was their new start after all!

She surprised a smile as she pulled the wrapping paper off a pink baby grow.

"Daddy's little princess?" she commented raising an eyebrow "What if it's a boy?"

"I told you I have a feeling!" Jay beamed

"Aka he is going to be traumatised for life because he's going to end up wearing an awful lot of pink..." Ruth pointed out

"It will be a girl!" Jay said confidently "Or baby number two can have it..."

"Baby number two? What do you think I am a gumball machine?" Ruth said soundly slightly horrified and bemused

"No!" Jay defended himself "Just a baby machine" Ruth shook her head with a small laugh as Jay pushed another present into her hands "Anyway who knows what the future could hold!" He commented and Ruth nodded slightly with agreement, he was right, she certainly didn't see being pregnant coming or the move to the seaside.

A hint of excitement appeared on Ruth's face as she opened the next present. Jay grinned he could read her like a book and he could see the excitement beginning to over flow in her eyes, it grew further as she pulled out a large packet of flying saucers followed by a large packet of dolly mixtures, a set of white baby grows and some new slippers.

As Ruth slipped on the new slippers and noted that all the presents from under the tree were all unwrapped she stood up.

"Woah woah where do you think you're going?" Jay asked

"I have a little something for you too..." She blushed slightly Jay bit his lip and smiled slightly

"I only got you one present..." she added as she walked over to the chest of draws in the corner of the room "I didn't think we would be making much of Christmas..." she said apologetically as she passed him the wrapped box from inside the top draw.

Jay eagerly ripped into the little box and his face lit up as he pulled out the little silver key ring holding it up to examine it.

The words 'Worlds Best Dad' were written on it. Simple and perfect.

"It's a bit pathetic in comparison..." Ruth sighed sadly

"No it's perfect." Jay beamed jumping up and wrapping her in a tight hug before pulling out the camper van keys from his pocket and attaching the key ring expertly "Anyway..." he added looking up as he put the keys back in his pocket "All the Christmas presents in the world could not compare to having you in my life. That is the only Christmas present I need."

"Really?" Ruth asked looking up into his eyes

"Really." He smiled leaning down and placing a gentle kiss on her lips "Anyway we aren't done yet!"

"We aren't?" Ruth asked curiously as Jay pulled away from the hug and grabbed her hand and began dragging her upstairs as they walked towards the smaller bedroom of the house. Ruth didn't know what to expect.

"Open the door!" Jay said stepping back and gesturing to Ruth that she should go into the small room, Ruth eyed him up warily then turned the door handle and pushed the door open as Jay bit his lip nervously.

Ruth stepped into the room in silence her eyes examining every corner. It was simple, a wooden cot in the corner, a changing table against the wall and a book shelf with a few teddies, books and toys on the shelves. The walls were a neutral cream colour and the bedding was also a neutral cream colour embroidered with little flowers. She had honestly expected to be greeted with pink but she was relieved to see Jay had sensibly gone with neutral colours, just in case his 'feeling' was a bit off the mark.

"Come on don't give me the silent treatment!" Jay said nervously

Ruth turned around and wrapped her arms around Jay's neck and uttered one word.

"Perfect."

They stood their hugging for a few minutes before Ruth pulled away looking back into the room with a content smile spread across her lips.

"Marry me?" Jay suddenly blurted out as Ruth wiped away a stray tear from her cheek

"What?" she asked turning to face him unsure if her ears were deceiving her

"Will you marry me?" He asked again reaching into his pocket and pulling out a small box flipping it open to show Ruth the simple ring inside "I'm not necessarily talking right away..." he added "I know this fast and I don't want to put any pressure on you..." he said running a hand nervously through his hair "but I thought we could maybe make our little family a little more official?"

A shocked Ruth did not say a word. Instead she reached out her hand and gently picked up the ring from the box examining it like it might disappear but Jay didn't need to hear her answer, he knew from the second her fingers touched the old ring that had once been his Nan's that it was a yes.

He put the box down and took the ring from her palm gently sliding it onto her finger before lifting her hand up and kissing it gently.

"Happy ending and new beginnings." Jay stated simply

"Happy ending and new beginnings." Ruth repeated as Jay wrapped her in a tight hug which she returned.

Ruth suddenly pulled back her eyes flickering up to meet Jay's as a nervous excited smile crossed her lips.

"I think our baby approves!" She said excitedly

"She kicked?" Jay said jumping back like an excited child and Ruth nodded

"I think so!" Jay immediately placed his hand on Ruth's belly and then let out a whoop of excitement as he felt the skin move beneath his fingers.

Ruth laughed she had never felt this happy before, it was like everything was clicking into place piece after piece. If this Christmas was what the rest of her life would be like then Ruth thought she could certainly get used to it.

"Merry Christmas Ruth." Jay smiled snapping Ruth from her thoughts

"Merry Christmas Jay." Ruth replied with a genuine smile across her face.


End file.
